Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-09-16
Niagara Falls.
BY ANTHONY TRoLLoPE.

OF all those which have seen.- am
inclined To give the palm I o the Falls
OF Niagara. In the catalogue of such
sights intend TO include all buildings,
pictures, statues and wonders OF art
made by mems hands. and also all
beauties of nature prepared by the
Creator for the delight of His creatures.
This is long word; but as far as my
taste and judgement GO it is jus SIZED.
l Snow no other one thing SO beautiful.
SO glorious and so powerful. l would
not by til be understood as saying
that a traveller wishing to do the best
with his time should first of all places
seek Niagara In visiting Florence he
may learn almost all that modern art
can teach. At Rome he will be brought
TO understand the cold hearts, correct
eyes and cruel ambition of the old Latin
race. In Switzerland he will surround
himself with food of grandeur and
lovelness, and fill himself. if he be
capable of such filling. with flood of
romance. The tropics will unfold TO
MN All lllul NtSCtdliOl III us
richness can produce. In Paris he will
find the supreme of polish. the ne Plus
ultra of varnsh according to the
worlds capab lily of vanishing; and in
London he will find the supreme of
power. the ne p'us ultra of work ac-
cording to the worlds capability of
working. Any one of such journeys
may be more valuable TO man-nay,
any one such journey must be more
valuable to a man, than a visit TO Nj
agara. AT Niagara there is that fall of
water alone. But that is more grace
full than q otto's tower, more noble
than the Apollo. The peaks of the
Alps are not so astounding in their
solitude. The valleys of the Blue
maintains in Jamaica are less green.
The finished glaze of life in Paris is
less invarable; and the full tide of
trade round the Bank of England is not
SO ineXorabl powerful.
That the waters of Lake Erie have
come dowG in their courses from
the broad basins of Lake Michigan,
Lake Superior and Lake Huron; that
these waters fall into Lake Ontario by
the short and rapid river Niagara and
that the Falls of Niagara are made by
a sudden break in the level of this
rapid river. is probably known TO all
who will read this book. All the wa
tiers of these huge northern inland seas
al Ls.t
tom of the stream; and thence it
comes that the flow is unceasing in its
grandeur. and that no eye can preceive
difference in the weight, or sound. or
violence of the fall, whether it be WIS.,
tied in the drouth of autumn, amidst
4 the storms of winter. or after the
melting of other worlds of ice in
the DAYS of the early summer. How
many cataracts does the habitual tour
ist visit at which the waters fail him?
But at Niagara the waters never fail.
There it thunders over its lodges in a
volume that never ceases and is never
diminished;-as it has done from time
previous to the life of men, and as it
Will III tens vi thousands VI NVdlS
shall see the rocky bed of the river
worn away. back to the upper lake.
1t has been said that il matters much
from what point the falls are first seen,
but to this | demur Ii matters, l
think, very little, or not at all. Let
the visitor first see it all, and learn the
whereabouts Of every point so as to
understand his own position and that
of the waters; and then having done
that in the way of business. let him
proceed to enjoyment doubt wheth
er il be not the best to do this with all
sightseeing | am quite sure that it
is the way in which acquaintance may
be best and most pleasantly made with
new picture.
The Falls are, as | have said, made
bv sudden breach in the level Of the
river All cataracts are. | presume,
made by such breaches; but generally
the waters do not fall precipitously as
they do at Niagara, and never else
where. as far as the world yet knows,
has a breach so sudden been made in
river carving in its channel such or
any approach to such body of water.
Up above the falls, for more than a
mile. the waters leap and burst over
rapids, as though conscious of the
destiny that awaits them. Here the
river is very broad, and comparatively
shallow, but from shore to shore 1t
frets itself into little torrents. and be-
gins to assume the majesty of its power.
Looking at it even here. in the ex-
panse which forms itself over the
greater fall, one feels sure that no
strongest swimmer could have a chance
of saving himself. if fate had cast him
in even among those petty whirlpools.
The waters, though so broken in their
descent are deIiciously green This